The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of crape-myrtle, the variety being primarily characterized by strong reddish purple blooms.
The variety is further characterized by:
From spreading to flat-spreading performance having a (hill spread)/(height) ratio of about 1.6, flat globe form, dwarf habit (about 40 cm height), heavy branching habit and an extremely numerous amount of blooms.
The new crape-myrtle variety originated in 1985 as a seedling resulting from the crossing of a pair of crape-myrtle plants. The seed parent was `Summer And Summer`, Lagerstroemia indica L., which was bred at a research farm in Uchino-cho, Niigata-shi, Niigata-ken, Japan, and the pollen parent was `Issai-Sarusuberi` Lagerstroemia indica L. This crossing was done at the same research farm as described above in 1984 with the object of producing plants having flowers of different colors from the seed parent, `Summer And Summer.` The seed parent, `Summer And Summer` has been registered under No. 1733 on Aug. 18, 1988, under the Japanese Seed and Seedlings Law. The pollen parent, `Issai-Sarusuberi` is a well-known and popular crape-myrtle plant and is under no protection, such as a patent or plant variety protection certificate. In 1986, the asexual reproduction of this selected seedling was done by me and under my direction at the same research farm as described above by green shoot cutting. Then, observations were made for 2-4 years of grown plants during 1987-1989. The continuous asexual propagation has demonstrated that the novel characteristics would hold true from generation to generation, appear to be firmly fixed, and are transmitted without change through succeeding propagations.
The new crape-myrtle variety differs from its seed parent and pollen parent in the following ways.
______________________________________ Seed Parent New Variety Summer And Pollen Parent Purple Queen Summer Issai-Sarusuberi ______________________________________ Tree-Performance spreading to flat-spreading upright flat-spreading (hill spread)/ 1.6 3.0 0.43 (tree height) ratio Tree form flat globe disc obovoid Tree height (cm) dwarf (36.6) dwarf (20.0) shrub (130.0) Branching Habit heavy medium sparse (number of 13.0 5.8 4.4 branches on a main trunk) Number of inflo- numerous medium little rescences per 11.0 5.0 3.5 one cluster Number of numerous medium medium flowers per 45.0 32.0 26.0 one inflorescence Petal color strong red- strong vivid red dish purple purplish pink purple JHS JHS Color JHS Color Color Chart Chart 8911 or Chart 9205 or 9507 or RHS RHS Colour RHS Colour Colour Chart Chart 77B Chart 68A, 71B 68B, 73A ______________________________________
The new crape-myrtle variety may be reproduced with ease by stem cuttings. Just after root taking, young shoots come out and spread as growth proceeds. The variety becomes to show from spreading to flat-spreading in tree performance and flat globe in tree form, before appearance of flower buds. The tree height of an adult tree is about 40 cm and the hill spread is about 1.6 times the tree height.
The variety shows extremely heavy branching habit and bears extremely numerous flowers and buds. The blooming period of the variety is long, from July to October in Niigata-shi, Niigata-ken, Japan, and in similar climate elsewhere. The variety also shows a good cold hardiness and can overwinter well without being supported with a pole even in a snowy area.